Star Wars: The Force Awakens

First let me say that I stood in line for the very first episode of the saga. With that said, some of us are a little disappointed with this installment. I don’t hate but there again I don’t love it. Now I also have to say I haven’t been reading the books. For those of you that read the Percy Jackson series and hated the movies I total get why some people never want to read the books if they see the movies or vica versa. But like some people pointed out you may never get the whole story if you don’t. So I say to you guys which books do I read? But here again I want to know what other people thought. I get this movie is for a new generation and for them to have their own saga. Sounds like there should be a but after that and well yes, I’d like to hear from other people about what they thought. One thing that did bother me was the CGI at the end, sorry his head shouldn’t be that so big, body proportions people. That’s all I will say cause if you haven’t seen it maybe you should and make up your own mind.

Fury & Gone Girl

Fury, starring Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman. A war picture about a single tank. Showing those fleeting moments of companion during the horrors of war. The rookie grows up fast in this story. Worth the watch, even if it does have Shia LaBeouf in it.
Gone Girl starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Truly disappointed with Ben Affleck’s performance. Seemed like he was just going through the motions. As for Rosamund, I found her performance chilling. The person she plays is just calculating and truly horrible. Worth watching just for her performance.
Here is something funny just for a breather.

Act of Valor and Lone Survivor

Act of Valor: Well worth watching, very gripping and full of information about the men in this group. Not giving anything away I will say it does make you appreciate the danger these men are in every day.
Lone Survivor: This film makes like the one above shows the dangers involved but it also shows the great compaction of people involved in the conflicts of their own country.
Keep watching.

For a Preservationist this movie was important, The Monuments Men.

The Monuments Men told a bigger story then just the missing art and men. This movie stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, Bob Balaban, John Goodman, Dimitri Leonidas and Cate Blanchett. This is not just the story about trying to protect and get back pieces of art, but about the brave people who were trying to accomplish this and tried to not loss any of it. As a member of a preservation committee, a historian and archaeologist I found it spoke to me with a different passion. We lose buildings that represent a point in our creative past that will never been seen again on a daily basis. Art and artifacts that represent the collective accomplishments of mankind are stolen or destroyed also on a daily basis. Losing are heritage does have an impact on us all. Children will never get to see the wonders of the early Native Americans and their wonderful rock art at the rate hunters and others deface these places. The Giant Buddahs of Bamiyan destroyed in 2001, but there is momentum to rebuild them. You can not rebuild the rock art. Old buildings, artifacts that are rare, sites that have the potential to tell us more about certain times in our past need to be preserved from oil, gas, big companies, rich idiots and others who don’t care bout the collective past of humanity just their own and their all mighty dollar. Watch this movie. Remember that some things where lost to Russia at the end of the war. Help preserve and protect the past.

Two for intrigue, Man on a Ledge & Inside Man.

Man On A Ledge, stars Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris. This was one of those that got me hooked right away and I couldn’t leave my seat until the end. Stealing is the art of distraction. N only in this movie but in the other one I picked for this double feature. Inside Man, stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, here the item of value may not be what you thought in the first place, and the person on the hot seat here has something to hide. Both were interesting and very creative. Enjoy!

Something of a surprise, Emperor.

Well I totally thought the movie was supposed to be about MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) and the Emperor of Japan (Takatarô Kataoka) but it was a little more. The story line has to do with proving if the Emperor gave the order for Dec. 7th and as the story goes on their are other factors going into this investigation. The real story line involves General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) and Aya Shimada (Eriko Hatsune) who met before the war with Japan. If you are looking for a man’s movie this probably won’t be the one for you. If you are looking for couples movie this is it. A little romance, a little war and intrigue, something for both. Worth watching once. Enjoy!